Hi! My name is Richard and I come from England. I am the classroom teacher for Class 6/1 at Sriwittayapaknam School in Thailand. I also teach English and look after the large Computer Department.

On this page I will talk about what it is like teaching a class of Thai students and our day-to-day routine. This page is meant to help people who are thinking about coming to Thailand to teach. Take a look at our Web Cam for live pictures of us working!

MY SCHOOL

Sriwittayapaknam School (pronounced see-wit-ta-ya-pak-nam) is a family owned school in Samut Prakan Province, about 30 kms south of Bangkok. We live in an industrial city so there isn't much greenery around but we are very close to the Chao Phraya River and the Gulf of Thailand. The school has a nursery, kindergarten, primary (elementary) and secondary (junior high). There are about 1800 students and 76 teachers. The school is run by three sisters who have the job of principal, administrator and business manager. They live in the school with their families and mother who is the owner of the school. I also live in the school.

If you want to see some pictures of our school or go on one of the virtual tours then please visit the school's web site at www.sriwittayapaknam.ac.th or www.srinai.com if you can read Thai. The web site is pretty big (Bangkok Post said it is the "largest and most comprehensive web site of all the schools in Thailand"). Due to our very large internet presence (we also own thaistudents.com which Lonely Planet called "the largest English-language Web site in Thailand.") we get requests from tourists and teachers nearly every week asking if they can come and visit our school. We never say "no" and we often have people walking around the school and visiting the classrooms. We also welcome student teachers who want to gain experience teaching in a different country for a few months.

MY STUDENTS

My class has 45 students which is probably about average for classrooms in Thailand. They are in Year 6 and are aged between 11 and 12. Year 6 has four classes and my class has the best students. Lucky for me! One of the first things I noticed about students in Thailand is how well disciplined they are and how much they respect their teachers. Fortunately I don't have much trouble with my class. This is despite a language problem.

My students help a lot in the running of the classroom. The students take turns to be on duty for the day. The jobs they have to do include: taking the attendance statistics to the office, collecting the milk, carrying the drinking water up to the classroom, washing the spoons and forks after lunch, taking the plates and waste food down to the kitchen, sweeping and mopping the floor and cleaning the blackboard. They also collect and distribute the homework, sort out the recycle materials and somehow find time to smile.

All of the students in the class are keen on reading cartoon books. Their favourites are imported from Japan and translated into Thai. I think the most popular one is Doraemon. The boys are interested in football (soccer) and basketball. They often talk about their favourite teams and players. They can quickly give you a long list of cities in England (i.e. ones with football teams) and probably know more facts the English Premiere League than me! The most popular teams are Manchester United and Liverpool. Both of these teams visited Thailand in 2001 and the stadium was completely sold out. The girls talk about the latest pop singers - both Thai and from abroad.

CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE

Though their hobbies and favourite free time activities are recognisable by students around the world, their behaviour inside the classroom is not quite the same. One noticeable difference is the Thai wai which is used as a greeting and as a way to show respect. The students receive many lessons in how to carry this out properly. First they bring their hands together in a prayer-like gesture and raise them to about nose level. The boys then bow and the girls curtsy. Students have to do this to the teachers in the morning when they first arrive or whenever they see a teacher that day for the first time. If I am marking a student's book at my desk then the student has to kneel down beside me. Their head cannot be higher than mine. When I have finished marking their book and hand it back they then wai me. If a student wants to go to the toilet they won't put their hand up. Usually they come to the front of the classroom, give me a wai and ask if they can go outside. When they return, they kneel in the doorway, wai and ask permission to come back in. They stay like that until I notice or wave them in. In the years I have been teaching here, I haven't really had a discipline problem. The students are quiet and attentive and seem quite keen to learn. This is not to say every class is like this. But I have never been angry with a student, nor have I ever thought about hitting anyone (not that I would anyway). Discipline is very important with large class sizes.

OUR CLASSROOM

The classroom is fairly large. It is on the 5th floor of the new building. To help the air circulate and keep the rooms cool, there are two big double doors as well as big windows which are always open. Most classrooms in Thailand should have three items: a picture of the King, a Buddha image and a Thai flag. We also have a large blackboard, notice board, 2 fans, cupboards, mop and bucket, brooms, rubbish bin, recycle bin as well as the usual tables and chairs.

In the classroom we have bookshelves for English and Thai books. Most of the students like to read cartoon books. This is a very popular pastime throughout Thailand. It is unusual to see a student read a novel or even a non-fiction book. Most teachers and some parents don't allow their children to read cartoon books because of the graphic violence, but I believe that reading something is better than nothing. On our book shelves we have a mixture of cartoon books and non-fiction books for the students to read. The only novel that my students have read is Harry Potter.

The students cannot drink the normal tap water. In the playground there are special taps where the water has been filtered first. Students in some classes come to school with their own water bottles which they then fill up here every morning. However, my class fill up a large drinking container which they then carry up to the classroom to share during the day.

The students are not allowed to wear shoes inside the classroom. There are shoe shelves outside the room. Actually they are not allowed to wear them in the corridor or stairs, too. If they want to go down to the playground, they have to carry their shoes down to the ground floor. If they want to go to the toilet (there is one on every floor), they use the thongs which are kept outside each toilet.

I remember we had one letter from a student in New Zealand asking how many heaters we had in the classroom! I had a hard time telling my students what a heater was. Why would anyone want to heat up the air?

DAILY ROUTINE

Some of the students arrive at school as early as 6.00 a.m. They have to do this if their parents work in Bangkok and they want to drop their children off before rush hour starts. Most students arrive by 7.30 a.m., which is when I usually make my appearance. Most students are doing homework or revising their books for the monthly exams. Some of them play scrabble or one of the other educational games I keep in the classroom. A few students are reading cartoon books. Unlike other teachers, I usually let them do this unless I know that student is lazy with their revision and homework. At 7.50 a.m. the school bell is rung and everyone has to go down and line-up in the playground for assembly.

Twice a week, before assembly starts, the students have inspection for cleanliness. Their nails, ears, teeth and hair length are checked by senior students. Personal hygiene is very important and the students are taught this many times during their lessons. Every month the students must have their hair cut or the duty teacher will do it for them. For the boys, all of their hair at the back must be shaved off leaving only the front and top a few cms long. For girls, the hair mustn't be below their ears.

Starting from about 7.00 a.m. the radio is played over the loudspeakers throughout the school. At exactly 8.00 a.m. every radio and t.v. station in Thailand plays the national anthem. If you hear this being played you should stop what you are doing and stand to attention. Once this is finished, the radio is turned off and the school band then starts to play the national anthem. This time the students sing as the flag is raised.

Next comes Buddhist chanting, student vows and the recitation of the school motto and creed. Once this is completed, one of the duty teachers gives an obrom. This is a Thai word which means to train someone. Basically the teachers gives a short talk about moral ethics. After this, notices are read and then the students sing the school song. Usually the students are back in their classrooms by about 8.20 a.m.

This is now home room period until 8.40 a.m. This time when I enter the classroom the students have to show me the proper respect, like they do for all their teachers. However, for me they speak in English. This is what they say and do:

Class Captain: "Please stand up." The students stand up.

Everyone: "Good morning teacher!"

Teacher: "Good morning everyone. How are you?"

Everyone: "I am fine thank you, and you?"

Teacher: "I am fine thank you. Please sit down."

Everyone: "Thank you." The students sit down.

In Thai it is much the same. The class captain says something like: "students, show respect". The students then stand up and greet their teacher in Thai and they also wai them.

In the homeroom period I have to check to see who is absent (usually no-one as my students are all keen!) and then one of the students fills out a statistics form to send down to the office. I have a class register but I don't call out the names to see who is absent. The students on duty also have to take down the bucket for milk as well as a note to say how many bags of milk we want for that day.

The 20 minutes I have with the students are really up to me. Some teachers will give another obrom or give the students a practice exam. (Once a month the students have four exams and the classroom teacher must prepare them for this.) I usually get my students to take turns in talking about what the teacher said during morning assembly. This they do in English. They are not doing too badly now as the talks are quite repetitive and they have learned all of the key words (using the toilets properly, walk don't run, keep to the right on the stairs, be careful when crossing the road, wai the teacher in the morning, dress neatly, don't waste water etc.). I also sometimes get the students to introduce themselves in English at the front of the classroom or talk about what they did the night before. Luckily, I don't have to give my students so many practice tests as they usually do okay with these.

Once a week, on Tuesdays, the homeroom period is cut short so that every student in the school can take part in an I.Q. 180 test. This is really a math puzzle. The first two in each class to be able answer correctly can wear the I.Q. 180 badge for one day. Some examples follow:

5 7 15 21 = 1

3 4 5 6 = 9

2 5 6 15 = 10

2 4 11 24 = 16

Usually the students can figure this out within a matter of seconds. Can you?

At 8.40 a.m. the first period starts. Each lesson is about 50 minutes long. After period 1 there is a 20 minute break. They usually drink their milk during this break, though there is no guarantee when it will arrive. There is about enough time for the students to go down and buy some snacks, go to the toilet or chat with their friends in the classroom. The remainder of the morning has two more periods.

Lunch is at 11.30 a.m. There is no canteen so the students eat in the classrooms. First they have to line up in the corridors to receive their food. They then take this back to their seat and wait for their friends. Before lunch starts they have to say a kind of grace. My class says theirs in English, though the others have a very long version in Thai. The grace we use was written by the students and is short and to the point. Once this is completed they can start eating. Everyone has school lunches - there is no such thing as packed lunch. Certainly students are not allowed to go home at lunchtime. When they have finished they put the waste food into a bucket, their bowl into the basin and their spoon and fork into a basket (they don't usually use knives in Thailand). The duty students then have to take the bowls and waste food down to the kitchen. The spoons and forks they have to wash themselves and bring them back up to the classroom.

At lunchtime there are a large number of club activities that the students can take part in. Every Tuesday we have Chess Club in the computer rooms. The students can play on the board or computer. Other clubs include: Cartoon Club, Stamp Club, Computer Club, Crossword Club, Art Club and English Club. It is usually too hot to go and play in the playground - but some students like to play basketball or kick a football around. Others might go down to buy snacks or stay in the classroom and chat with their friends.

Lunchtime finishes at about 12.20 p.m. and the students have to line up in front of their classroom to hear a short obrom again. The students then have three more periods before afternoon break at about 3.10 p.m. I sometimes enter the classroom at this time if there is something I need to do with the students. Every day they have to write in their homework book the work their teachers have given them. I have to sign this and then the students have to take it home for their parents to sign too. Once this has all been completed, the students can then go for break. However, the duty students have to stay behind and clean the classroom first. School officially ends at 3.45 p.m., however, most students stay for an extra homework lesson between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. The teacher usually helps the students with their homework so that the students don't have to do it at home.

Between 3.20 p.m. and 4.15 p.m. I have a special conversation lesson with three of my students in the library. They learn with me for one week and then the following week they swop with their friends. Usually by the end of each week they can comfortably talk about themselves and what they did the previous evening.

The final school bell is rung at 5 p.m. The students have to go down and line up in the playground to go home. If they go home with their parents then their names are called out over the loudspeakers when someone has come to pick them up. If they go home alone then they have to line up first and wait for a teacher to escort them down the road.